Oil industry slams Zinke for closing Florida waters to offshore drilling

The oil industry criticized the Trump administration Wednesday for excluding waters near Florida from offshore drilling.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said the decision to remove the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico from drilling consideration is “premature” and ignores safety advances the industry has made.

“This announcement is premature,” API President Jack Gerard said in a statement following the late Tuesday decision from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

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“The Gulf of Mexico is the backbone of our nation’s offshore energy production and restricting access to the Eastern Gulf puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across the country and along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi,” he said.

“Not only that, but securing reliable sources of energy helps fuel other industries like tourism, especially in states like Florida that relies on more than 200 million barrels of gasoline and diesel each year to fuel its economy.”

Zinke’s action has also been criticized by governors and other leaders of various other coastal states.

The administration said last week it is considering allowing drilling all along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Nearly all of those states’ leaders have come out in opposition to it.

Zinke also excluded the Atlantic coast of Florida. But the Gulf of Mexico hosts the bulk of the United States’ offshore drilling, so the eastern Gulf is the industry’s top prospect.

Zinke made the decision came after he met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R).

Scott is expected to run for the Senate seat currently held by outspoken drilling opponent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). Florida is also the home of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s coastal resort that he dubs the “Winter White House.”

The National Offshore Industries Association, which represents companies in numerous areas related to offshore drilling, also criticized Zinke’s move, calling it “disappointing and premature.”

“Removing areas offshore Florida this early in the planning process prematurely curtails dialogue and thorough study of the possibilities for future development of offshore resources that could provide additional energy and jobs for working Floridians,” Randall Luthi, the group’s president, said in a statement.

“In addition, for a state whose tourism economy is dependent on a secure and affordable transportation fuel supply, failure to secure domestic production and supply of fuels actually is a greater economic risk than offshore development.”